


Nekomata

by CrunchySalad



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Catboys & Catgirls, M/M, No Sex, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-06-21
Updated: 2005-06-20
Packaged: 2017-10-19 10:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/199992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrunchySalad/pseuds/CrunchySalad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Tenipuri world with a Loveless twist: Every one is born with cat ears and a tail, which are lost with their virginity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

By the time Akutugawa Jirou was in his second year of junior high, his mornings had pretty much fallen into a routine. Still half asleep, a pancake hanging out of his mouth, his mother would fluff out his ears and push him out the door into the bundle of energy that was the Mukahi brothers. Gakuto would prance along beside him as he shuffled, somehow managing to slow to Jirou's pace, while Daiki would skip circles around both of them, occasionally stopping to tug on Jirou's tail for attention. Gakuto would always complain about tennis, about how he should be a regular already, about how he wished he had a partner who would support him while he did his acrobatics play, and why wouldn't Jirou ever play doubles with him? Every so often Jirou's steps would slow down until he finally stopped, head drooped towards the ground and eyes closed, and then Gakuto would only shove him along without missing a beat in his ranting. Then it was drop Daiki off at the elementary school, take a quick nap in homeroom, and then be woken up by Kamida-sensei after class started.

It may have been pretty boring, but it suited Jirou just fine. After that, he'd usually drift through the rest of the day, though not without helpful pushes and shoves from those around him. Then it was tennis practice, unless it was cancelled, and another day of Atobe running the team while Izumi-buchou just stood behind him looking a little scared.

"Why aren't you the vice captain?" Jirou had asked him once, at the beginning of their second year, while he was half lucid and draped over Atobe's back. They were in the new locker room that Atobe had built, on one of the rather plush benches, and Atobe was inspecting something or the other. Maybe it was his racket, but Jirou couldn't remember for sure.

Atobe's made a face like he had just caught a whiff of Kabaji's dirty laundry. "And be second best? Hardly."

"Well then, why aren't you the captain?"

"Sometimes," Atobe said, with a rather long suffering sigh, "one must make sacrifices in the name of diplomacy."

Jirou didn't understand it when Atobe talked about diplomacy or politics, because Jirou was more of the straight forward type, and what did Atobe mean by politics when they were only in junior high anyway? But diplomacy and politics seemed to be a significant part of the world that Atobe was born into, so Jirou didn't say anything, and only wrapped his arms tighter around Atobe's shoulders as he let himself drift into the next level of sleep.

Atobe let him rest there on his back until he was finished with his current task, then he maneuvered slowly so that Jirou shifted ever so gently onto the bench. Atobe wasn't the type of person to be physically close to any one, but he didn't mind Jirou, because Jirou was pretty affectionate with every body. Atobe guessed he had to be, since he was always falling asleep on every one. Besides, Jirou was Jirou, and it was impossible for anyone not to be fond of him.

Sometimes, when they didn't have practice, Jirou tried to convince one of his friends to take a train with him to Rikkai. He wasn't allowed to go on those kind of trips by himself, not ever since he had fallen asleep in some rather comfortable bushes his first year and had been gone almost overnight. He finally woke up at two a.m. to seventy-four frantic messages from his mother, who was about to call the police she was so worried.

Atobe would take him sometimes, calling the whole experience some expression like "slumming it", and seemed to be amused by public transportation and such. Atobe preferred to travel with an entourage though, so when Atobe came with him, Kabaji also came, along with maybe one or two other random second or third years from Hyoutei. When Jirou came with so many people, Sanada would spend a big part of time glaring at them, and the first years started to get nervous.

Sometimes Gakuto would take him, but Gakuto complained the whole time they were there, about the long train ride, about his math teacher, and about pretty much anything in between. Sanada wasn't as angry when Jirou came with only one person, and since there were only two of them, Yukimura would give them snacks from the club room and rub Jirou's ears while they watched practice.

Yukimura was another reason Jirou didn't understand Atobe. After all, Yukimura was very diplomatic, and he was still captain of his team, and none of the third years seemed to have any problems following the sophomore.

At any rate, Jirou liked to watch Rikkai practice, because a lot of the players were on his level or higher, and it was always interesting to watch all the things they could do. Sometimes though, since it was only practice, it could be a little boring, but Marui always tried to keep it entertaining for him. Jirou came, after all, mostly to watch Marui, because even though Marui wasn't the best player on Rikkai, he played the same kind of tennis as Jirou only better.

"Watch this, Jirou!" Marui would call from the tennis courts, almost bouncing in excitement as his opponent waited patiently.

"Wow!" Jirou would yell, getting as close as he could to the courts without interfering and jumping up and down. It would no doubt be a move he had already seen a million times, but it never failed to amaze him. "Marui, you're so cool!"

Gakuto would sit on the bench and look bored and disinterested, because he didn't like having another redhead aside from him around. He also didn't like how Jirou was pretty much fangirling about said redhead.

"My moves are way more impressive than that," he would mutter to himself, wishing for that doubles partner of his dreams.

Around the end Marui would come over and they would talk a little and laugh, if Jirou wasn't already asleep. If there was time they might play a quick game, and Jirou would go home with Gakuto completely awake and raving a mile a minute about the game. If Jirou fell asleep then Sanada would pull him onto his feet and then shove him gently over to Gakuto, who would obligingly lead him home. Sometimes, when he got home after that, he would walk into the bathroom and find marker drawings all over his face, with "Niou Masaharu was here" written on his forehead. Marui would text him to make sure he got home alright, because Marui was nice like that, and that would be it until the next time Jirou made his trip to Rikkai.

Jirou figured his best friends were Gakuto and Atobe, and wondered if Marui was also a best friend. After all, they had gotten along ever since the Newcomer's tournament, and sometimes they even hung out together outside of tennis. Gakuto was definitely his best best friend, because he had known Gakuto the longest, and maybe Atobe wasn't really a best friend at all. Maybe Atobe was just... what was that word... diplomatic. He wondered who Atobe's best best friend was, and decided it was definitely Tezuka.

"Are you and Tezuka, like, B.F.F.s?" Jirou asked Atobe once, when Kabaji and Atobe were walking him home from school one day. Gakuto had a club meeting.

"B.F.F.s?" Atobe scrunched up his nose at the unfamiliar term, like since it wasn't part of his vocabulary it didn't deserve to be a valid expression at all. "What's that?"

"Best friends forever and ever. Oh wait. No, that's...," a pause to yawn, "that would be B.F.F.E.s, wouldn't it? Or maybe it would be B.F.F.A.E.s..."

Atobe gestured at Kabaji, who in turn swatted the back of Jirou's head before he could drift off. "Ore-sama is not the type to have a best friend forever and ever, Jirou."

"But he's always at your sleepovers."

Jirou remembered Atobe's latest sleepover, where Tezuka had sat awkwardly and disinterestedly on the couch while the other boys played with the latest videogames.

"The Tezukas are family friends and important business allies. It's expected that I keep up the relationship in my generation."

"But you guys are, like, always talking on the phone about stuff."

Atobe blinked as he contemplated his relationship with Tezuka. "I suppose."

Jirou grinned. "See? I was right. You guys are total B.F.F.s!"

Atobe frowned, and was about to reprimand Jirou for... well, for something, but then Jirou continued.

"That's good, you know, cause everyone should have a B.F.F., because it makes things funner, ya know?"

Atobe looked at Jirou, who was smiling happily, and decided to concede the point. "Yes, I know."

Atobe didn't have that much time during the end of their second year to walk Jirou home though, because it was then that Tezuka started showing interest in some supposed prodigy on the Seigaku team. And since Tezuka was interested in this boy, Atobe decided he was interested in the boy as well, and spent more if his free time in Tokyo with the both of them (plus Kabaji). Atobe and Tezuka may be best friends forever and ever, Jirou decided, but they would always be rivals too.

During that time Atobe ordered Shishido to start walking Jirou home when Gakuto couldn't.

"I'm not your servant," Shishido had snapped the first time Atobe had "asked" him to walk Jirou home, while Jirou shifted from foot to foot in the background. "Get one of your lackeys to do it."

Jirou wasn't sure why Shishido didn't like Atobe, but he thought it had something to do with Atobe being hugely wealthy and a little... well, pompous... while Shishido's father was a public school teacher and he could only afford to go to Hyoutei because of a scholarship. Jirou guessed that there was a lot of pride involved. In the end though, Shishido did in fact walk him home, and Jirou was very careful not to fall asleep on the way because he didn't want to get Shishido too mad. Jirou didn't know much about the long haired boy. Only that he was just as arrogant as Atobe, was prone to histrionics, and still hung out exclusively with his pre-Hyoutei friends.

"Did you know that one the of the first years has a crush on Shishido?" Gakuto whispered to him one day at practice. Gakuto always knew the good gossip.

"No way!" Jirou's eyes opened all the way, caught sight of Shishido fixing his hair in front of a window, then scanned the first years until he found a tall, silver-haired boy who kept sneaking glances at Shishido when he thought no one was looking.

"I know!" Gakuto near-shrieked, even as he was trying not to laugh. "What lousy taste!"

All in all, Jirou's second year passed in the same manner as his first. He was grateful for Hyoutei's policy of not using their regulars until Kantou though, because he actually got to play some real matches even though he was only a pre-regular. Then everything was over, and it was break time again, and Gakuto came over almost every day to play cards and board games with Jirou and Azumi. Hazuki soon came home from college as the first of the really heavy rains of the season started coming down, and, reunited, the family set out to the mountains and hot springs. When they got back the flowers had started to sprout, and it was time to go back to school.

On Jirou's first day as a senior, his mother pushed him out the door with half an omelet sticking out of his mouth. Gakuto and Daiki were, of course, there to intercept him, Daiki brimming with pride in his new Hyoutei junior high uniform.

"I'm just like aniki and Jirou nii-san now!" Daiki exclaimed happily as he skipped around them.

In class, Jirou was about to take his customary pre-class nap when he was rudely awoken by Gakuto's binder dropping to the floor. He shifted his head in his arms a little, about to tell Gakuto to be more careful, vaguely aware of the fact that Gakuto's mouth was hanging open.

"Wha-tmgh mmm?" Jirou asked, forgetting mid-question how to work his tongue.

"Jirou. Wake up," Gakuto whispered, the sounds harsh and short.

"Hmm?"

"Fuck, Jirou, we have a new student."

Jirou was about to tell Gakuto not to curse, especially over something so little as a new student, when he realized that everything was really quiet. Surprisingly, or not, Jirou had problems sleeping in complete silence. He turned a little and noticed that their young, fresh out of college teacher was clutching her tail to her chest and staring at the door with her ears standing straight up. He finally shifted to look at the door, and looked up at a tall boy with glasses and hair that was a little too long and messy. He wondered what all the fuss was about, and why every one was being so strange, and what made Gakuto curse, when he finally noticed it.

The new student didn't have his ears.


	2. Chapter 2

"Maybe some one stole them," Jirou stated, even though he didn't really see how that was possible.

"As if!" Gakuto exclaimed. His voice then dropped down to a conspirational whisper. "You know there's only one way to lose your ears... you know... you have to like, do it."

Gakuto rushed out the last two words of his statement as though it were embarrassing, but Jirou didn't think the other boy looked embarrassed at all. Jirou, on the other hand, thought that he himself might be blushing just a little bit.

"That's crazy!" He whispered back, leaning forward across the cafeteria table. "We're only fourteen! Even sensei still has her ears!"

"Nee-san lost her ears when she was thirteen." Gakuto crossed his arms over his chest, lifting his chin up to appear as wise and knowledgeable as possible. The effect was lost when he started giggling.

Jirou gasped and clutched at his own ears. He couldn't even imagine... even Hazuki still had his ears, and he was in college. "What did your parents do?"

Gakuto's eyes went all big and excited. "They were so mad! They lectured her for hours and then grounded her for a month! But you know..."

Jirou leaned forward even more as Gakuto's voice dropped down lower.

"She said it was totally worth it!" Gakuto broke out giggling again.

"But..." Jirou frowned, moving his hands from his abnormally furry ears to pet his tail. He couldn't imagine what his parents would do if he came home without his tail at this age. They might tell him that they were angry, but more than that they were disappointed, and that would be even worse, and maybe they would even send him off to, like, disciplinary school or something. What if he had to live with juvenile delinquents?

"I wonder what it would be like to lose my ears," Gakuto mumbled, eyes looking off into the distance as he twirled his tail. "I mean, like, Oshitari's an adult now, and he's the same age as us. I feel like a little kid when I look at him."

Jirou blinked. "Who's Oshitari?"

"The new guy!" Gakuto rolled his eyes. "Duh."

Then Gakuto looked off into the distance again, and Jirou wondered if he was thinking of Himiko from class 3-B, who wore pigtails and made really good natto and was even shorter than Gakuto so that they would actually make a really cute couple standing together. Then the bell rang, and Gakuto congratulated him on staying awake through lunch as they scampered back to class.

The Boy Without Ears, as Jirou called him now, stayed at the back of his mind for the rest of the day. Jirou didn't think that he was naïve... he knew that other kids their age were losing their ears all around the world and even in Japan these days... he just didn't think he'd ever see some one at Hyoutei do it. Hyoutei was a good school, with good kids, who came from good families... the whole thing made him a little uncomfortable. Jirou also noticed that wherever Oshitari went, the other students would take a step back and clutch at their ears, and Jirou realized that it was a pretty automatic response... even he did it when he wasn't paying attention, to make sure that they were still safely stuck to the top of his head.

That afternoon at tennis practice Jirou and Gakuto saw Atobe talking to Oshitari through the chain link fence, before the taller boy brushed Atobe off with a hand gesture and walked away. Gakuto ran up to their now-buchou as soon as the earless boy left, Jirou following.

"Atobe! Do you know that guy?"

"Shouldn't you be practicing?" Atobe asked back, bored.

"Come on, Atobe! Tell us! Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Atobe shrugged, though he decided to give Gakuto the information he needed whether than face that incessant whining. "Our families know each other, and I think he might make a good addition to our tennis team."

"That's so not what I wanted to know! The ears, Atobe, why doesn’t he have his ears?"

"I believe that's a personal matter," Atobe responded in an icy, monotonous tone. He never did like gossip. "If you have any questions about that, then I suggest you direct them to Oshitari himself. I also suggest that you get back to practicing before I lose my patience."

Gakuto 'hmmph'ed, but he turned and headed back to the courts. Jirou lingered though, shuffling his feet a little bit as he looked up at Atobe sheepishly.

Atobe sighed, though his tone when he spoke was warmer. "What is it, Jirou?"

"Are you... are you really going to let him on the team? We have enough members."

Atobe raised his eyebrow. This wasn't like Jirou at all. "Jirou, you know we could always use one more, especially when he's so talented. Oshitari has a near-prodigal sense of tennis. You don't have any problems with him, do you?"

Jirou looked down at his feet, and at the racket he was dragging back and forth on the floor. He didn't know how to tell Atobe that Oshitari made him feel... well, uncomfortable, and kind of awkward.

"Jirou, I hope you're not judging him because he doesn't have his ears any more."

Jirou looked up, a little embarrassed, but trying to justify in his head that he wasn't being judgmental, per say. "It's just... never mind... I'm going back to practice now."

Atobe frowned, but he didn't stop Jirou as the other boy headed back to the courts.

That afternoon on the walk home Gakuto couldn't stop talking about Oshitari, and Jirou did his best to drone it out as he daydreamed about tennis and the fact that Atobe said they could play one another tomorrow.

"...I really, really want to talk to him, I mean, I wonder who he like did it with and if it was really good and what it was like and if he was transferred here because he like got some girl pregnant or something and that would be so exciting! Don't you think he's like really really cool and different and..."

It had been awhile since Jirou had gotten to play Atobe, even though Jirou was always asking for a game, because Atobe had his duties and all. It must be hard, Jirou thought, to lead a club with over two hundred members, and try to be fair and encouraging to all of them.

"... wonder what it would be like to lose my ears..."

Jirou stopped and paused. He knew Gakuto had said something like that before, but there was just something about the way he just said it right now... "Gakuto!"

Gakuto stopped in surprise and turned around, noticing that Jirou was almost a whole block behind him. He must have stopped walking awhile ago... Gakuto wondered why he hadn't noticed, but quickly skipped back to where Jirou was.

"You're not..." Jirou was all wide eyed, which meant that something had shocked him, "you're not thinking about losing your ears, are you?"

Gakuto shrugged, wondering why Jirou was making a fuss. "Why not?"

"Why not?" Jirou blinked, confused. What was Gakuto thinking? "Your parents will be sad. And you won't have your ears any more... they'll be gone... forever..."

"Please." Gakuto rolled his eyes. "My parents will be happy I waited a year longer than nee-san. And besides, every one loses their ears eventually."

Jirou didn't like how Gakuto was being so flippant about everything, but there wasn't much more he could say to him about it any way. He hoped Gakuto wouldn't make any rash decisions. The boys said goodbye and Jirou stumbled into his house, kicking his sneakers off as he closed the door.

"Jirou? Is that you? You're just in time to help me set the table."

Jirou frowned. Something about his mother's voice sounded... tense. It was the too polite tone she used with her clients when she was tired and cranky but she still had to be nice. Jirou shuffled into the kitchen, noticing that Azumi was drawing very quietly on the counter, another oddity in his day to day life. When his mother left the room Jirou sidled up to his little sister and whispered to her.

"What's wrong with Mommy?"

Azumi cupped both of her hands around Jirou's left ear and whispered back. "Nothing."

At which point she went back to drawing.

"Why are you being so quiet?" Jirou tried again.

"Mommy told me to. I think she has a headache."

Happy to discover the truth, Jirou made his way to the refrigerator, where he picked out a juice box of artificial orange juice.

"You know," Azumi declared happily, "Hazuki's back home."

That made Jirou smile. "Really?"

"Yup. I think he came to tell us that he's getting married."

Jirou dropped his juice box. "Azumi! How do you know that?"

"It's obvious. He doesn't have his ears any more."

* * *

Jirou stood outside the door to his brother's bedroom. Mostly, he was just shifting from one foot to another, but every so often he would reach out to turn the knob, only to draw his hand back before he could touch it. The dinner they had just eaten had been tense, to say the least. Jirou usually liked it when his brother came home, because dinner would be so much fun, and every one would be happy and talking at the same time, but this time his brother was missing his ears and every one was trying to ignore it and no one was really talking. He guessed his parents weren't going to say anything, since Hazuki was in college now and old enough to make his own decisions, but it must be hard of them to actually know, and he thought they really should at least say something.

Finally, Jirou gathered up enough courage to push the door open, though he still didn't have enough to actually step into the room.

"Umm..." Hazuki was sitting at his desk, and was probably in the middle of studying a textbook, but now he was just looking at Jirou with a curious expression. "Can I help you, Jirou?"

"Well..." Jirou shuffled some more, focusing his eyes on the carpet, because Hazuki just looked really weird without his ears. He didn't look like Hazuki any more. "Azumi thinks you're getting married."

"Jesus." Hazuki tapped his highlighter against the desk, impatient. "Look, Jirou, this is a really awkward thing for me to talk about with you, so what do you say we just don't, okay?"

Hazuki turned back to his work, but Jirou was still standing at the door, looking as though he wanted to come in and close the door.

"Jesus, Jirou, just get the hell in here and close the door."

Grateful, Jirou closed the door and stumbled over to the bed, where he promptly made himself comfortable. "What are you going to tell Azumi?"

Hazuki sighed. "I don't know. Nothing. She'll realize there's no marriage planned soon enough, or she'll forget about it."

"So you're really not getting married?"

"Jirou, you should be old enough that people have sex without any intention of getting married."

Jirou blushed and played with the edge of his brother's pillowcase... he wasn't used to peopled calling It... well... sex. "So... it's like... not that big a deal?"

"Of course n..." Hazuki trailed off, before turning to look at Jirou sharply. "Look, it's not that big a deal for me, because I'm in college and a lot older than you, but it's still a big deal for you, okay? Don't forget that."

Jirou blinked. "Hmm?"

Hazuki eyed him suspiciously, but then just shook his head. "Never mind. It's just that you've got to remember you're young, and you should wait until you're older and completely ready to lose your ears, and when you do lose your ears you have to remember to do it safely."

"Aniki!" Now Jirou was really embarrassed, but he couldn't think as well any more, because being on the bed was making him way too comfortable. "I know that."

"Why so interested, Jirou?"

"It's a big deal." Jirou yawned, then remembered school. "There's a new boy in my class, and he doesn't have any ears either."

Jirou could see Hazuki narrowing his eyes through his eyelashes. "What? At your age?"

"Yeah... I was... sur... prised... ... "

"Jirou." Hazuki stood up and walked towards the bed, reaching a hand down to ruffle Jirou's hair. "Stay away from him, okay?"

"Hmmm."

"Kids like that are trouble. You can't hang out with such a bad influence."

Hazuki rubbed at Jirou's ears, and for a moment missed his own, but the moment passed quickly enough. Jirou was asleep. Hazuki smiled and went back to studying... he knew, at least, that he didn't have to worry about Jirou coming home earless and tailless one day.

The next day Jirou was slightly disturbed to find that Oshitari had in fact decided to join the tennis club, and Mukahi was following him around like he was some kind of idol.

A week later, they were already doubles partners, and had taken to calling one another by their first names.

The tennis season passed uneventfully, except for the part where they actually lost to Seigaku during the tournament. Still, Jirou finally got to meet that prodigy Tezuka was so taken with (Atobe not so much any more, having found some girl named Ann to occupy himself with), and Fuji was, like, super cool and had some really awesome moves. Jirou really wanted to play him again some day. Gakuto and Oshitari got closer, as did Gakuto and Himiko, and Jirou didn't really interact with Oshitari at all. So, in short, things were almost back to normal, and Jirou settled into finishing his third year, and continued to spend the majority of his time falling asleep wherever he could.

Apparently, Jirou was to find out, Rikkai's Kirihara also made a habit of falling asleep in public spaces, though he did it exclusively on buses, trains, and other moving vehicles. Maybe it was the motion, or the constant bumps in the road that lulled him to sleep, but one afternoon as he was on his way to practice (after having skipped classes for a doctor's appointment) he found himself in Tokyo. What’s more, he found himself very near to Hyoutei, and soon saw Akutagawa Jirou walking up the street towards him.

The blond blinked once, then twice, then rubbed his eyes before realizing that it was Kirihara. He shuffled his way up to him, surprised that Kirihara had the patience to wait for him when he looked like he wanted to bolt and run. Maybe Yukimura and Yanagi's tact, or Yagyuu's manners, had rubbed off on him.

"How come you don't have a babysitter today?" Kirihara half-mumbled, more curious than mean. It sounded to Jirou as though Kirihara were almost always half mumbling.

"What about you?"

The two boys stared at each other for a little bit, before Kirihara broke out into a huge grin, eyes squished up into little half circles.

"Saa! You caught me! I came to cause some trouble for Hyoutei."

"But... we're not in the tournaments any more. Seigaku already beat us."

Some awkward staring and a phone call to Marui later, Jirou was holding Kirihara's hand as he dragged him down the street, towards a large shiny building nestled between a Thai restaurant and a toy store.

"I don't need a babysitter," Kirihara kept whining, trying to tug his hand out of Jirou's grasp. "I'm not a baby. Every one always treats me like I'm so little, but I'm only half a year younger than Yukimura-buchou."

"But Yukimura's not always causing trouble like you are."

"It's not my fault things happen when I'm around." Kirihara looked up, trying to read the store sign as Jirou pulled him through the automatic door. The glass closed with a soft buzzing noise the second Kirihara stepped into the store, causing him to jump forward a little and then glare back at the door in annoyance. Content that the door had learned its lesson, Kirihara looked around the room, and the large white machines that littered the floor and walls made it clear exactly where they were. "Why are we at a laundromat?"

Jirou only pulled him further into the store, past the middle-aged women and random college students. He stopped in front of one machine and jiggled part of it, causing the coin compartment to fly open.

Kirihara gasped. He did some pretty bad things sometimes, like purposely trying to hurt others, but he didn't steal. "Are you stealing?"

"Don't worry about it. It's my machine; my parents own this place." Jirou packed handfuls of quarters into his pockets before closing the compartment. Then he gestured to a row of arcade machines in the back that Akaya hadn't seen. "Wanna play?"

"Your family owns the '24 Hour Super Sparkly Clean' laundromats?"

Jirou beamed, though he worried a little about Kirihara's horrible pronunciation of the English words. "Yup."

"Wow." Kirihara was in awe. "When our washing machine's broke we go to the one near our house."

They wasted their quarters on racing and fighting games, more so of the latter, and Kirihara won more than he lost, a fact of which he loved to declare very loudly for the whole store to hear. Jirou was actually having some fun with Rikkai's second year, though something started tugging at the periphery of his senses. Too lost in the colors and motions on the screen in front of him, he didn't actually think anything was different until he became aware of Kirihara tugging on his tail.

"Akutugawa-san, wake up."

Jirou gazed at Kirihara through squinted eyes, wondering why Kirihara had moved so close to him, and why he looked so unnerved and just a little bit scared, and then saw that he was staring at something behind Jirou.

"I said," came a vaguely familiar, thoroughly amused voice, "how nice to run into you here, Jirou."

Jirou looked up to see a pair of glasses and the still very odd sight of a Hyoutei uniform with no ears to match. He wanted to be offended that Oshitari was calling him by his given name, but then every one called him by his given name. He might not have liked Oshitari, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to be nice. If it was one thing that Jirou's mother could be proud of, it was that Jirou's report card always had the handwritten words "Plays well with others" scribed next to all those Bs and Cs. "Hey, Oshitari."

"And who's your friend?" Oshitari's eyes flickered over to Kirihara, leaning even closer to the younger boy. He was almost nose to nose with him now, and moved his hand to rest a hand on top of Kirihara's curls. Jirou could see that the fur on the second year's ears and tail were standing straight up. "He's really cute."

Kirihara's eyes snapped open all the way at those words, and he tried to bite at Oshitari's hand even as he grabbed onto Jirou and tried to use him as a shield.

Oshitari only chuckled as he straightened up. "Jirou, what are you doing here with Rikkai's baby?"

"I'm not a baby," Kirihara whined, though it was muffled into Jirou's shoulder.

"I'm..." Jirou stopped, knowing that Kirihara wouldn't like the phrasing he was about to use. "We're hanging out. Just until his parents get off work, and then he's going home."

"Straight home," Jirou said again, sending what he hoped was a rather pointed look Kirihara's way. Kirihara seemed to be beaming though... he was probably grateful that Jirou hadn't said "babysitting" or "taking care of".

"Oh."

To Jirou's chagrin, Oshitari sat down on the bench next to them, stretching out his legs and making himself comfortable.

"I was heading home myself, but it'll be nice to have some company. You know, even though we've been in the same class and the same team for awhile now, Jirou, we've never had a conversation before."

Jirou was about to disagree, but then remembered all the times they had "conversed", and realized that they all consisted of polite greetings and day-to-day comments like "Do you have a pencil?" Really, although Oshitari had started sitting next to him in class, he mostly just listened or slept as Oshitari and Gakuto spoke to each other over his head.

"And I've never had the pleasure of being in Kirihara's lovely company at all."

Kirihara huffed and pouted, not knowing what else to do as Oshitari smirked down at him.

"Kirihara doesn't like the be teased," Jirou said, though he more mumbled than spoke that time.

"Tease?" Oshitari's face effected a 'who, me?' type of expression, before he let go a short chuckle, a warm, full sound that made Jirou want to blush. "I don't tease."

"No?" Jirou raised an eyebrow.

"No. I'm, like, a really nice guy."

"Nice guy my ass..." Kirihara muttered behind Jirou's back.

"Gasp!" Oshitari alliterated, his tone one of shock, though he had that snarky smile plastered onto his face. "You don't believe me? And here I came bearing gifts."

"Gifts?" Kirihara bounded out from behind of Jirou, pushing the blonde into the front of the machine, before coming to stand right in front of Oshitari. He seemed to have completely forgotten his teasing from earlier. "What'd you get me?"

"Well," Oshitari opened his back pack, Kirihara leaning forward more and more in anticipation, "I picked them up because my sister had a craving, but it wouldn't hurt to share."

"Pocky!" Kirihara exclaimed as Oshitari's backpack opened to reveal several boxes of the stuff. Jirou's eyes snapped onto the familiar boxes as well... he loved the stuff.

Oshitari handed a box Kirihara before tossing one to Jirou as well. "Mousse Pocky, right? It's your favorite."

"Uh... yeah." Jirou was about to ask how the other boy knew that, when Oshitari's cell rang, playing a tune Jirou was surprised to recognize as 'My Heart Will Go On' from that awful American movie about the sinking ship.

"Hn." A few moments later Oshitari hung up and gathered his backpack. "Looks like I have to go. I'll see you two later."

Kirihara waved cheerfully as Oshitari left, though Jirou just watched.

"I like him," Kirihara announced after the other boy left. "Even if he does talk with that stupid accent."

"Accent?" Jirou blinked, confused, before remembering all the things Oshitari had said to him in the past. Kirihara was right. He wondered how he didn't notice that Oshitari spoke in Kansai-ben before. "Then there's the fact that he was flirting with you, and that he has no ears."

Kirihara blushed a little at that, and Jirou had to admit he looked pretty cute trying to eat several sticks of Pocky at once with his cheeks tinged pink. "I don't think he was really flirting."

Kirihara opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. When he finally decided to tell Jirou whatever it was that he was deciding to say, his voice came out in a rushed giggle, so Jirou didn't exactly understand what he said.

"Huh?"

Kirihara looked around in both directions before leaning down to whisper it into Jirou's ear. "Yanagi-sempai told me that we could lose our ears together."

Kirihara then stood up and spoke louder, clarifying. "But I think he was only teasing."

Jirou couldn't help noticing that Kirihara looked extremely pleased with himself.

Summer came soon enough, and with summer came summer break, which meant trips out on Atobe's yacht and to the beach. Jirou couldn't have been more relieved... ever since Oshitari's arrival at Hyoutei, all the talk had been about ears, and students who had started showing up without theirs, much to the dismay of the school board. There were also rumors flowing in from other schools, and Jirou was looking forward for a time when they could just fish and relax and play videogames and sleep and not have nightmares about weird cats with Kansai accents trying to chew off his ears.

"Did you hear about Shishido?" Gakuto glomped on to Jirou's arm as they stepped onto Atobe's yacht. Gauging from his excitement, Jirou guessed that either something bad or something really big happened to him.

"No."

"He lost his ears!" Gakuto shouted. "Man, I'm so jealous! I wish I could lose my ears already!"

"Gakuto!" Jirou half-shouted, but Gakuto had started rambling on about ears and Shishido and how Ohtori, who still had his ears, was really depressed about the whole thing. Realizing his best friend forever wouldn't shut up for awhile, Jirou only sighed and shuffled along.

"Mukahi."

All it took was one word from Atobe and Gakuto closed his mouth with a snap.

"Kabaji, my bags?"

"Usu."

Jirou and Gakuto stumbled out of the way as Kabaji walked past them, going to retrieve the bags that Atobe had left on the pier.

"Ne, Atobe," Jirou drawled, grabbing Atobe's arm. Things were always easier when he had something or some one to lean on. "Who's here?"

"Well, besides you two and Kabaji, Tezuka is here. As is Oshitari. And I believe that is every one who will be joining us today."

Jirou clung tighter as they made their way to the main room, knowing that he was dragging his feet and slowing Atobe down. As long as Atobe didn't say anything about it, though, he wasn't going to stop. When they got to the room Tezuka only bowed his head minutely in greeting, while Oshitari smiled at them over the glass of soda he was drinking. Jirou always thought Tezuka looked a lot older than his years, but sitting next to Oshitari with his fuzzy brown ears made him look almost like a kid.

All participants boarded, it didn't take long until they reached a rather isolated section of the river. It was all blue underneath mist, and Jirou couldn't see the shore past the fog. It was, he admitted, a nice place to cast their lines, even if every one did expect him to fall asleep while waiting for the fish to bite. He never shared Atobe's fondness for fly fishing, an interest Atobe had passed on to Tezuka, though he didn't hate it either. He liked the quiet, and the boat as it lulled back and forth, and the snores that came from Gakuto as the redhead sunbathed.

As he fished, the mist gathered in the distance, coming closer and closer, until he swore he could see the condensation right in from of him. Little drops of water, too round and tiny to be rain, but he could see details and colors in every single one of them. One of them was every shade of blue. Another had holes cut out of it in intricate design, like the lace that lined his mother's old wedding dress, shaped into a ball. Another still was a metallic gold, opaque and heavy and struggling to stay afloat, and another kept turning itself inside out and then outside in again, with a loud splash-

"Jirou."

Jirou blinked up at Atobe's voice, then looked down to see his hands clutched around air instead of his fishing pole. He could hear Gakuto snickering, and could see Oshitari smiling behind Atobe.

"Jirou, wake up. Your fishing pole fell into the river."

"Oh." Jirou yawned and stretched out, feeling really guilty. "Sorry."

"It's just a fishing pole," Atobe said, allowing himself to smile at Jirou's antics, even though he didn't want to encourage the boy's bad habits. "It's not as though I can't buy another."

Atobe reached down to help Jirou up and the group of them stumbled back into the yacht, where Jirou could see Kabaji had uncovered the television screen.

"Movies?" Jirou asked, still half asleep and knowing that the next activity did not bode well for his narcolepsy.

"Duh." Marui rolled his eyes. "Yuushi picked some out."

As soon as he touched the sofa, Jirou was out like a light. He woke up to sounds of sniffling, and looked around the room. It was empty except for Oshitari, who was blowing his nose on a tissue. His eyes looked suspiciously wet.

"Are you okay?" Jirou asked, his concern for others far outweighing any antagonistic feelings he had for the earless boy.

"Yeah," Oshitari's voice was shaky, "it's just that this is the part where she finds out that he was in love with her the whole time, except it's too late to do anything about it. I tear up every time I see it."

Jirou frowned. Oshitari was talking about a romance movie? No wonder every one else had left. "It's just a movie."

"Yeah." Oshitari moved his glasses to the top of his head and wiped his eyes. "But it's like, moving, you know? True love and all that. Don't you think so?"

Jirou looked at the screen, where a young actress was clutching a photograph to her chest. "So you really like romance movies."

"I love them." Oshitari shifted closer to Jirou on the couch, right next to him now. "There's just something about love stories that really touch me."

"Really?" Jirou had to lean back against the couch to look up at the Oshitari, they were so close together. "What do you like about them?"

Oshitari moved his arm to rest on the back of the couch, his jacket sleeve just touching Jirou's curls. "Everything. I love the part where the couple gets together, all the trials they have before that. My favorite part is the love confession."

"Confession?"

Oshitari nodded. "Liking some one, and wanting to let that person know it. You understand that much, don't you, Jirou?"

Jirou nodded, thinking back on all the girly romance movies he had managed to stay awake through. Now Oshitari's face was moving toward him, and Jirou thought, what exactly is he doing? Even when Oshitari's lips were pressed against his, Jirou was thinking how big and funny Oshitari's face looked so close up to his. Then, after a moment, what was happening finally registered in his head. They were kissing. Oshitari was stealing his first kiss.

Jirou gasped and pushed Oshitari away, fumbling over the back of the couch to land on the floor.

"Jirou?" Oshitari blinked at him, confused.

"I can't..." Jirou moved his fingers to his lips. "... I can't... I can't believe you just did that!"

Not knowing what else to do, Jirou stood up and ran out of the room. He had to find Atobe.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, is everything straightened out then? It was an honest mistake." Atobe tried to turn to look at Jirou, but the blond was currently nestled against his back, so any attempt to do so was fairly futile. As it was Jirou was almost completely hidden behind him, only a pair of fuzzy ears and blue eyes sticking out over his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Jirou," Oshitari said, and his voice was apologetic enough even if his expression wasn't. His expression... well, Jirou wasn't very good at reading expressions, but he knew Oshitari was frowning, and seemed to favor looking off to the distance rather than looking at him and Atobe. "I completely misread the situation."

"See, Jirou? Oshitari didn't mean to scare you so much."

"Surely," Oshitari agreed, "it was just a kiss."

Jirou, in answer, poked Atobe hard in his side.

"Oh, yes. Oshitari, do you promise never to do it again?"

"I wouldn't want to kiss some one that didn't want to be kissed. Now, is this conversation over, because you must admit it's highly embarrassing. I feel an absolute fool."

"Yes, this is an odd conversation to be having." Atobe might have leveled an accusing gaze at Jirou, if he had been able to actually see the boy. "Of course, feel free to leave."

Jirou watched as Oshitari left, let out a relieved sigh, and let go of his clutch on Atobe's shirt.

"Really, Jirou, you mustn't overreact to every little thing."

Jirou frowned. "You think I'm overreacting?"

"Just a little bit." When Jirou's frown deepened Atobe gave a long-suffering sigh. "But since it's you, I suppose it's okay."

Really, Atobe thought, he should stop spoiling Jirou so much.

Later on Gakuto scolded him for being so mean to Oshitari, but Jirou kind of just phased him out, and at any rate he didn't see the other boy for the rest of the summer. When they returned to school Jirou noticed with some small amount of happiness that Oshitari had taken it upon himself to change their seating order... now, Oshitari sat beside Gakuto, leaving Jirou with a seat on the redhead's other side.

Once again, things were pleasantly back to normal, at least for the next few weeks.

But then, things were never 'back to normal' for very long, and Gakuto and Atobe lost their ears on the same awful day. It was like a double blow to Jirou. Gakuto spent the entire day afterwards at school doing gross lovey dovey things with Himiko, but at least Jirou was expecting Gakuto to go through with it one of these days. He had never, ever expected it from Atobe, and spent tennis practice in the locker room moping and pouting instead of sleeping like he usually did.

"Jirou. Wake up."

Okay, so maybe he had fallen asleep a little bit.

"Wha-" Jirou blinked open his eyes and looked around, but the only person there was Atobe, looking funny and weird and completely earless. "Go away."

Jirou pouted and hid back underneath the bench.

"Jirou." Atobe frowned, then sighed. "Don't make me get Kabaji."

"I don't care! Go away!"

"Really, you're so difficult, Jirou."

Jirou heard Atobe stepping over the bench, then he felt Atobe's hand scratching underneath his ears. Mmmm.... no one scratched him like Atobe did, and soon enough he felt his tail waving about in a lazy, figure eight pattern. Maybe he was purring, too, but he was too content to really hear properly.

"I'm still the same old Keigo-sama, aren't I?"

Jirou's eyes opened, and though he was still pouting, he didn't look nearly as upset as he was before.

"Who was it?" Jirou asked, his voice coming out quiet and small.

Atobe gave a little huff, then looked around the room. "You must promise not to tell any one."

"You know I won't."

"I mean it this time, Jirou, because if it got out then we could get into a lot of trouble."

Jirou frowned at Atobe's words... this sounded serious. "I promise."

"It was Sakaki."

Jirou's eyes were large saucers in his face. "Kantouku?"

"So you realize nobody can find out about it."

Jirou nodded, and Atobe patted him on the head.

"Good boy."

"Isn't that... isn't that weird? Kantouku's so old." Jirou wrinkled his nose up thinking about it.

"He's not that old, Jirou." Atobe smirked. "More like... experienced. Now, let’s get you up from under there."

Jirou let Atobe pull him out from under the bench and brush the dust off his clothes, then the two walked out of the club house. There was a hunch to Jirou's shoulders, and the blond seemed to be thinking about something. The look of minor concentration was a marked difference to the still half asleep expression he perpetually wore.

"A penny for your thoughts, Jirou."

Jirou shrugged, shuffling his feet, and Atobe had to slow down to remain beside him. "It's just.. I dunno... I'm the only third year in regulars that still has his ears."

"Yes, you are. It's one of the many, many things that makes you so special."

Atobe ruffled his hair, and gave his ears one more nice, long scratch, and Jirou beamed up at his friend. Atobe always knew just the right thing to say... it was so nice to have him around whenever Jirou needed him.

"Oh, by the way, I'm going on a business trip with my father for the next week, and Sakaki wants all the regulars at practice. That means you won't be able to sleep through them... of course, I'll tell Kabaji to make sure you're there."

"You're leaving me?"

"Don't make that face, Jirou, it's only for a week. Really, what am I to do with you?"

The Week Without Atobe started out alright enough... true to his word, Atobe had given orders to Kabaji to take care of Jirou, and Jirou found the hulk of a boy waiting outside his classroom every day. Gakuto, as usual, walked him home after practice, but now Himiko came along as well, and Jirou was stuck shuffling behind them and playing third fiddle. Then, Wednesday rolled around, and Kantouku posted the shopping assignments for the next month on the board.

Jirou saw his name, written in flowing, precise characters next to this week's date. Next to his name was written 'Oshitari Yuushi'.

"Sorry, Jirou," Gakuto said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'd go for you, except I have to spend the Friday hanging out with Himiko."

"Do you think Kabaji will go instead?"

"And miss his piano lesson? Hardly."

Jirou frowned and looked out the window to where Kantouku was watching over the second-years. Their coach probably wouldn't let him out of it... and besides, Jirou was too scared to ask.

"I guess I have to go then."

Gakuto patted Jirou's head. "Yuushi's a nice guy, you know, so give him a chance."

Thursday night came too quickly, and for once Jirou had a hard time falling asleep as he lay in bed. What if Oshitari tried to molest him again? He imagined a big, bad Oshitari with a snarky grin and glowing fangs, devil horns popping up out of his shaggy hair. The thought that he would have to spend at least an hour alone with the other boy, and what would his brother think, kept Jirou awake for more than a few hours. When he finally drifted off, though, a voice in his head was whispering that Oshitari wasn't all that bad, and had been nice to him and had left him alone when he asked, and really, the kiss had actually been very pleasant. Lips tingling, Jirou fell asleep.

Three hours. Three hours of sleep was all he had gotten, compared to the normal eight, and all the napping in the world that day wouldn't do him any bit of good. Gakuto and Ohtori kept shooting him concerned expressions at him, but they probably chalked it up to the obvious, and Kabaji went easy on him when they had their practice match.

By the time practice was over and it was time for the shopping trip, Jirou was too tired to care. Everything was moving as though in slow motion, fuzzy and monochrome, and then there Oshitari was, blinking at him, a worried expression on his face that Jirou had never seen there before.

"Jirou, are you okay?"

"Yeah..." and his voice was distant to his ears, and maybe he was half asleep already.

"Don't worry about him, Yuushi, he just hasn't gotten his thirteen hours of sleep today."

Oshitari frowned. "Jirou, you can go home and sleep if you want. I can do the shopping myself."

Jirou woke up a little, mildly surprised. "Really?"

But then Kantouku's voice cut through the air, and Jirou cringed at it's stiff tones. "Akutagawa-kun has gotten out of enough duties over the years; the least he can do for the team is go on one shopping trip."

A lot of the time with Kantouku, Jirou couldn't tell if he was being distant (as he was with all the club members, save Atobe) or if he actually hated him or something. He was vaguely aware of Gakuto shuffling him out of the club room, and then Oshitari was beside him, and he jumped a little when he realized it.

"..." Oshitari took a step to the side, an unreadable expression on his face. "You can go home, I won't tell any one."

Jirou wanted to go home, he wanted to take Oshitari up on the offer, but then he happened to glance behind him for a moment. Kantouku was there, giving him some kind of glare, and it made him shudder just a little bit. "No. I'll go."

The shopping trip was not what Jirou expected. The silence and awkwardness, he expected, but Oshitari was being oddly formal. He had thought Oshitari might come on to him, or try to kiss him again, or do something, but nothing was happening. Jirou shook his head, reprimanding himself... it was good that Oshitari wasn't doing anything. This was a good thing.

Jirou plodded along behind the other boy, occasionally stopping to look over things like grip tape and strings, and then they were paying and Oshitari hadn't said more than twenty words to him. There were two white bags on the counter, and Jirou reached for one, but Oshitari plucked them both off before he could reach it.

"I can hold one," Jirou said, a little angry, and he wasn't sure why.

"I've got it."

"It's fine." Jirou grabbed one of the bags and pulled, but Oshitari wouldn't let go, and the bag tore open and spilled all over the floor.

Oshitari made an exasperated sound before bending down to pick everything up and put them in the bag he was already holding.

"Why are you acting so out of character?" Jirou asked, sudden and annoyed.

"Me?" Oshitari sounded incredulous. "Me, out of character? What about you?"

Oshitari threw the last roll of grip tape into the bag, then all but stomped out of the store, Jirou having no choice but to follow. He had to run to catch up to Oshitari, and ran smack into a tall, well-built body as he exited the store.

"Jirou?"

"Aniki?" Jirou looked up, and sure enough, it was his older brother.

Hazuki looked at Jirou, then at Oshitari, and pulled his brother even closer to him as he noticed a distinct lack of ears.

"Jirou, is this boy bothering you?"

But Oshitari was bowing, and Jirou thought it looked so stiff and strange for the other boy to do so. "Akutagawa-san, it's nice to meet you. I'm Oshitari Yuushi, Jirou's teammate."

"Oh." Hazuki blinked, but he seemed impressed by Oshitari's manners, and let go his grip on Jirou. "Well, in that case, thank you for taking care of my brother."

"Aniki!" Jirou whined, but his brother was patting his head and stepping away.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. Be good, Jirou."

Jirou watched sadly as his brother's blond curls bounced off into the horizon, then leveled an confused expression on Oshitari. "Why were you so polite just now?"

"Of course I would be polite with your family." Oshitari sighed, sadly, and Jirou felt like there was something he just wasn't getting. "It's your family."

It's like a million different thoughts were swirling around in his head. He didn't know what to think any more. "But you're not polite... you kissed me when I wasn't paying attention, and you don't have your ears-"

"That's exactly what this is about, isn't it."

Jirou's mouth formed a little 'o' at the anger in Oshitari's voice, because he had never heard Oshitari sound angry before.

"This is about the fact that I don't have ears, and from the moment you saw me you judged me because of it. And when I kissed you, you couldn't possibly think it was because I might have liked you, because you already think I'm some kind of cad."

"What other type of person would lose their ears so young?"

Oshitari was saying something, and he looked mad, but Jirou couldn't hear it. There was some kind of ringing in his ears, and he felt so dizzy... like everything was shaking.... and then he couldn't see anything any more, and he felt his legs give out underneath him.

Everything was black. At first, everything was black, but then the grass came rolling out like it was a red carpet at some fancy event, except it was rolling out in every direction. Then there was the sound of a splash, and splatters of sky appeared above the grass-carpet. More splashes, and more, until the whole sky was blue and white. Curiouser and curiouser, a giant gloved hand came out of nowhere and placed a glowing orb in the middle of everything.

Jirou looked around, and noticed bunnies and kittens frolicking among his feet. He picked one up, and it had curly black hair and red eyes, and nuzzled against his neck.

"Kirihara?"

But the bunny didn't say anything, and Jirou put it back onto the ground, watching as it scampered off. Then everything was getting bigger, bit by bit, and he realized, no, it was him that was getting smaller. He swished his tail and stretched his paws out in front... he was a cat.

Yes, he must have been a cat, and not Jirou, because Jirou was right over there! Only it was little Jirou, and he was talking to a boy who looked strangely like what Oshitari looked like, only younger. The cat walked closer and mewed, but they weren't paying attention to him, and then little Jirou had fallen asleep on little Oshitari, and little Oshitari looked quite befuddled. Oshitari poked at the small blond, but he wouldn't wake up, so he relaxed the best he could with a body leaning against him. And smiled.

"Meewww...."

Mmm. Some one was scratching him now, and it felt so good. This was the best ear scratch he had ever felt.

"Atobe?" Jirou's head cleared of bunnies and grass, and he blinked his eyes open. Everything was still fuzzy though, and he was still so tired, but he saw a pair of glasses and longish, shaggy hair before he fell back asleep.

The next time Jirou woke up he woke up all the way, though it still took him some time to do so. Some one was hitting a ball against his wall, and then he heard the sound of gum popping.

"Marui?" Sure enough, Jirou's vision focused enough to narrow in on clumps of red.

"Yo. Are you feeling okay?"

That red hair was right in front of him now, along with a pair of big, worried eyes, and a finger was poking him in the shoulder. "Oww..."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Where am I?"

"Duh." Marui rolled his eyes and climbed into the bed, making himself comfortable alongside Jirou. "Your bedroom. That Oshitari guy took you here after you fainted. You've got a fever, yanno. You should take better care of yourself when you're sick."

"I didn't know." Jirou blinked. "Marui, what are you doing here?"

"Huh... Kirihara and Niou set fire to the club house, so practice ended early."

Jirou cringed at the notion of Rikkai's practice ending early... it was already well into evening. When exactly did their practice end usually?

"So, any way, I thought, let's go see if Jirou wants to play a match, and here I am."

"I wanna play, I wanna play!" Jirou sprang up on the bed, bouncing a little, but Marui pushed him back down.

"Nuh uh. You're sick." Marui leaned against him, and arm over his shoulder to keep him from jumping out of the bed, and it reminded Jirou of when they were roommates during the Newcomer's Tournament. He could smell the artificial grape of Marui's gum, and he hoped it wouldn't get stuck in his hair like when they used to fall asleep together. "This Oshitari guy, he seemed real worried like about you. He sat here for awhile until I came, then he left, told me you didn't like him very much."

"It's not that I don't like him..." Jirou mumbled into Marui's shoulder. "He's... I dunno... he's scary."

"Why?"

Jirou rubbed at the spot on Marui's head where his right ear should have been.

"Oh. But you don't think I'm scary."

"Well, you're from Rikkai. No one has their ears at Rikkai."

Marui looked offended for about one second before he grinned. "True, true. Though Yanagi and Akaya held out for awhile."

"I don't want to lose my ears."

"You don't have to, Jirou."

Marui stroked long fingers through his hair, and Jirou fell back asleep. This time when he dreamt, he dreamt of candy sheep and glowing fish, and nothing of relevance or significance.

When it was time for Jirou to go back to school, after having been out with the flu for some days, he was feeling much better and much more clearheaded. At least, as clearheaded as he ever got, considering he lived most of his waking life as if he were dreaming. It wasn't necessarily a good thing, and now he was struggling over how to act around Oshitari.

Jirou was admitting that he had possibly been wrong about the other boy. Oshitari had been very nice to him... had carried him home, in fact. That alone deserved some gratitude, and maybe he should apologize as well. But then there was the fact that right before he fainted, Oshitari had said something about maybe liking him. The thought made Jirou blush, but maybe he was making too much of it, and that hadn't been what Oshitari meant at all.

It's not as though Jirou wanted the other boy to like him.

All his thinking (which had, in fact, hurt his head a little) was all in vain, because Oshitari wasn't in school, and Jirou found himself looking over at his empty seat from time to time during class.

"Why do you hate Yuushi so much?" Gakuto scrawled it on a piece of notebook paper as their teacher lectured about geometry, his characters big and messy.

"I don't hate him," Jirou wrote back, lazy, rambling script.

"You haven't been nice to him since he's transferred here."

"I've been nice."

Gakuto shot Jirou an incredulous expression. "Not Jirou-nice."

Jirou shrugged, not even bothering to respond, but Gakuto had already picked up the pen again.

"You just don't want to admit to yourself that you like him." Then he was pulling the paper away, out of Jirou's grasp, and sticking his tongue out at him.

Jirou scowled, at least as much as he could scowl. And it still came out looking a little like a pout. But Gakuto didn't say anything else about it, and Jirou didn't think about it again until he saw Atobe later on that day. He found the boy eating in the courtyard with Kabaji at lunch, the usual crowd of girls gathered at the arched entrance to watch their Atobe-sama eat. Jirou pushed past them and into the courtyard, plopping down on one of the wrought iron chairs that surrounded a matching table.

"Atobe, do you know where Oshitari is?"

"Hmm? I believe he caught your flu, and is sleeping it off."

"Oh." Jirou rested his head on the table, feeling the lace-like pattern dig into his cheeks. There might be marks left behind, if he stayed there long enough, so he just had to be very careful not to fall asleep.

"Jirou, I don't think you should go see him."

"Huh?" Jirou looked up to see Kabaji peeling grapes for Atobe. "But I just want to say thank you."

"It's not nice to lead him on."

Jirou hunched his shoulders over and tucked his head into his arms. Atobe was using his 'lecturing' voice, the voice he used whenever he was discussing people's mistakes on the court, and Jirou didn't like it. "I'm not."

"Jirou..." Atobe closed his mouth, then opened it again, still contemplating. His lips were slightly parted as he debated within himself, and Kabaji used the opportunity to slip a grape through. "Mmph! ... Kabaji, we're too old for that, ahn?"

Kabaji dropped the grapes he had been holding and lowered his head, and Jirou stifled the urge to laugh a little. Atobe dabbed at the corner of his mouth with a napkin, then turned back to Jirou.

"Jirou, Oshitari likes you. Must I really spell it out? He's liked you for a long time, and he only kissed you because he thought you liked him too."

"But that doesn't make any sense. We met less than two years ago."

"You really don't remember, do you."

Jirou blinked, even more confused then ever. "Remember what?"

"That you've met Oshitari before. I'm not sure of the specifics, he's only just told me, but it was more than a few years ago. He said he had just finished a match and you came up to him, this little blond boy with a Tokyo accent, and told him that you liked him. You ate all his pocky and then you fell asleep on him."

Jirou blinked some more before recognition set in all over his face. "But that boy had ears! And no glasses! Oh...."

Jirou ran a finger over the pattern of the table, contemplating. It had been a silly grade school tournament that his father had taken him to while checking the laundry mats in Kansai, and he had been so little... he hadn't even started his lessons yet. There was a boy there with longish, shaggy hair, and he had been the funnest to watch play, and when Jirou saw him sitting alone afterwards he couldn't help but run up and tell him how much he liked his playing. Except now, thinking back on it, the words had come out 'I really like you a lot'.

"Well, it turns out you made quite the impression, and he's harbored affections for you ever since then. He never thought he'd actually see you again, let alone end up in the same school."

Jirou sighed. "Well, what am I supposed to do now, now that I know all this?"

"Jirou, you know," and Atobe's voice was so full of fondness and affection, "it's about time you stopped leaning on me and stood on your own two feet. You're perfectly capable of deciding what to do on your own."

Jirou frowned, and Atobe's hand reached out to rub his ears, only to stop halfway.

Everything was muddled, and grey, and confusing, and Jirou didn't really want to deal with the fact that he might like some one, let alone the fact that he might like Oshitari Yuushi. He didn't want to deal with the fact that all his friends were losing their ears. He just wanted everything to stay the same, and to just be a kid, and the fact that that wasn't happening made him want to cry.

Muddled emotion or not, though, he thought he should at least apologize to Oshitari for being so unfair, and to say thank you for carrying him home the other day. It really was nice, and he remembered mousse pocky, Oshitari's warmth next to him in the classroom, and Oshitari's concerned face, and thought about how Oshitari really was such a nice person.

He wasn't aware of actually walking to Oshitari's sprawling house, nor was he aware of ringing the bell and being let in by an young woman who must have been Oshitari's sister. But then he was standing in the doorway of Oshitari's room, and he became very aware of the fact that Oshitari was in bed with Kaede, the blonde long-legged girl who had graduated from junior high last year.

"Jirou?" Oshitari pushed the girl off of him and ushered her out of the room, much to her loud complaints. "Jirou, you know, she came onto me, I wasn't going to do anything with her."

"Hmph!" Kaede slapped Oshitari's hands off of her and glanced over at Jirou before glaring at the bespectacled boy again. "I should have known you were gay, when you weren't interested in me."

Then the girl was huffing down the hallway, Oshitari looking after her with a bemused smirk. "Really, women are so hard to understand, I-"

But then Oshitari stopped, realizing that Jirou was sniffling.

"Jirou? Jirou, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to lose my ears," Jirou near-sobbed, rubbing at his eyes.

"Oh, Jirou."

Jirou felt arms wrap around him, and fingers scratching at the base of his ears, and it felt even better than when Atobe did it.

"You don't need to lose your ears. You can keep them for as long as you want."

"But every one else is losing theirs." Jirou's voice was muffled in Oshitari's chest, and he reached his arms out to wrap around Oshitari's waist. "Every one's changing except for me."

"But no one ever said you had to change." Oshitari's chest was so warm against his cheek, and it felt so good just to be held like this. "I like that you sill have your ears, Jirou. I like how you're so sweet and naive. I like most everything about you, and if you don't want to change, you don't have to."

Jirou clung tighter to the back of Oshitari's shirt... he had been so silly about everything, and Oshitari was still being so nice to him. But it was so hard to think, because his eyelids felt so very heavy.

Oshitari shifted a little, and his voice was low against Jirou's ear, conspiring. "You know, if I had known I was going to meet you again, I would have waited to lose mine."

"Liar," Jirou said, and Oshitari chuckled at it.

"Hmm. Or not."

"Why didn't you say anything? About the before time?"

" I don't know..." Oshitari sighed, and it tickled his neck a little. "My pride was hurt when you didn't remember me."

Jirou was so tired. He was so tired, and Oshitari was so warm, and so soft.

"I really like you a lot," Oshitari was saying, voice so sincere, and Jirou was whispering back, "I think I might really like you too."

But his lids felt so heavy, and then he felt a bed underneath him, and Oshitari's lips pressing against his temple. A whisper, light and distant.

"Go to sleep, Jirou."

And he did.

Gossip spread fast at Hyoutei, especially when it had to do with newly formed couples. So the next day at school Atobe patted his head while giving him and approving look, and Gakuto gave Oshitari a high five.

"Congratulations, Yuushi! You finally caught the Ji-lamb you've always wanted!"


End file.
